Good News!

Finally...I have alot to say about our adoption journey!

1. We have been approved for an adoption grant from Lifesong for Orphans! If you would like to make a donation you can go their website. They even take Paypal! Or you can make checks payable to Lifesong for Orphans and in the memo line write Lewis #1749.

Mail to
Lifesong for Orphans
PO Box 42/ 202 N. Ford St.
Gridley, IL 61744

Today I am busy trying to get our findraising letters ready to mail! I am sooooo thankful for what the Lord has done for us this week! What a blessing to be a part of His beautiful plans!

2. Any day now we should recieve our USCIS pre-immigration approval. That is the last piece of the ever-complex dossier mound. I'm really hoping I can get that sent off soon.

3. We had an awesome concert at church last night. If you haven't heard of Matthew Smith and Indelible Grace you really need to check them out! They were working with Compassion International which is a child sponsorship program. We picked up a packet for a 14 year old girl in Ethiopia. How appropriate!? I'm excited to sponsor this child because through Compassion she will hear the gospel, be able to attend school, and the cool thing is, We will be able to write letters back and forth. I'm really stoked. Her name is Bizuye. Don't ask me how to pronounce that.

4. Josie's 1st birthday party was awesome. I'll be putting pictures on facebook as soon as I can. She got 2 black baby dolls! How cute! We've even named them _ _ _ _ _. Have fun figuring that out:)

A Child's Very Own

Darren's parents have arrived from Nebraska and are spending the week with Josie (oh yeah and us too) lol. We have been having such a great time except that Josie gave us all colds so yeah...lots of Kleenex usage around here. I can't even begin to tell you what a blessing a good set of Godly parents/grandparents is. They have always been so supportive of us and as a daughter-in-law that means so much to me. They love Josie to pieces and they already love our daughter in Ehtiopia.

It touched my heart that they affectionately have nicknamed her "Baby Ethie". I guess that's payback for not telling them her name ahead of time. Lol It's so sweet to me that they have taken such an interest in our journey. Above is a picture of a blanket that they brought for us. It was made by an elderly lady who they know. She loves to make blankets for children and give them away. She asked Doug if he knew of a special child who would enjoy this blanket called "A Child's Very Own". The bright colors reminded him of African culture and he brought it home for her. It brought tears to my eyes to think that this is the first of many things that will be hers specifically. Even more special that her Grandpa is already thinking of her.

I got a call from Lifesong a few weeks ago. They have been processing our paperwork for our adoption grant. They said that they have been really busy so it could still be a few weeks. So...we're just waiting on that phone call.

We only have to straighten out one piece of paper and then our dossier is complete and ready to be authenticated and certified. It will be soooooo nice to have that done!

Heard some really really exciting news about JW and KC Godwin. They are friends of ours who are adopting from Ehtiopia as well and they recieved a referral for a baby girl! We all can't wait to meet Zoe Grace Godwin!!!

Well, Josie is turning one this weekend! I can't believe she is that old already! Very possibly, 1/18 of her life at home is already gone. How's that for a weight of parental responisiblity?

Hello 2011

Wow! The last month barely stopped to blink at me as it whizzed on by. Guess it's time for an update!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas! It was so much fun to watch Josie at her very first Christmas ever! She is such a joy to be around and I just love her to pieces. Can you tell?

This is our wonderful Christmas dinner! We got to spend some great quality time with my sisters and family. Amber was so sweet to open her home and let us feast daily! We had a great time!

Josie wasn't crazy about opening presents. She mostly just wanted to run around, play with bows, and search for rogue balloons.

We are still waiting to hear back from Lifesong about our adoption grant. Please continue to pray that the Lord would provide for us through that and quickly if that is how it is meant to be. We are mostly done compiling the dossier and are just waiting on the funds. We went to Birmingham today and got our "biometric fingerprints" done. It sounds so high-tech, but it's just like the machine in Montgomery so...I'm not sure what the difference really is, but it feels nice to have that done. We also got two new suitcases! These will be able to handle the International travel ahead of us and keep us under any weight requirements.

So...yeah I'm pretty much itching to go. 2010 brought me my sweet daughter Josie and Lord willing, 2011 will bring our sweet daughter _____ (yep still not tellin' the name!) home to us from Ehtiopia! For that, I welcome 2011.

Christmas Music

Yesterday was our church's Christmas concert. It was amazing! The words were edifying and Christ focused, the quaility of the music was great, and the lighting, decorations, and sparkly sweaters made it a very "Christmasy" and festive experience. I love those songs that make you think "Wow...I wonder what the singing in heaven will sound like?"

I was notified by lifesong that they are looking over our grant application. We've already sent our 1-600 form in for pre-immigration approval. Just waiting to hear back from lifesong so that we can move on to the next step...finalizing the dossier!


We are preparing for our trip to Virginia to see my sister Amber and her family who lives there. My other sister Stephanie is flying in from California and I'm so excited to be able to spend Christmas week with them. I'm sure Josie will have a blast with her aunts, uncle, and 3 cousins.
I've been remembering what last Christmas felt like. I was 8 months pregnant and on medicine to reduce contractions so Josie wouldn't come too early. I remember that feeling of hardly being able to stand the wait until I could meet her and I remember thinking "our Christmases won't be the same anymore!" Now my sweet Josie is toddling around and pulling the bows off the Christmas presents! Time goes by so quickly in retrospect.

Last night I was blessed to see the G321 Children's choir have a part in the concert. I pictured myself 5 years from now with 2 little girls singing up there together...praising God with their voices in the midst of a church family who loves them. This year, I'm a little bit thinner, but again I spend Christmas in anticipation of another child. I'm almost positive that "#2" will be with us by next Christmas and again "our Christmases will never be the same!"

Four Stockings

I've wanted to post this song for a long time, but I can't figure out how to do it (due to my apparent lack of tehnological know-how). There are alot of places online where you can go to listen to it. This song makes me want to cry everytime I hear it, but it definately hits home this year.

Merry Christmas
by Third Day

There's a little girl trembling on a cold December morn
Cryin' for Momma's arms.

At an orphanage just outside a little China town

Where the forgotten are.

But half a world away I hang the stockings by the fire

and dream about the day when I can finally call you mine.

It's Christmas time again, but you're not home.

Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone.

And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in His arms.

And tell you from my heart: I wish you a Merry Christmas.

As I hang the tinsel on the tree and watch the twinkling lights,

I'm warmed by the fire's glow.

Outside the children tumble in a wonderland of white,

And make angels in the snow.

But half a world away you try your best to fight the tears,

And hope that heaven's angels come to carry you here.

It's Christmas time again, but you're not home.

Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone.

So tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in His arms,

And tell you from my heart I wish you a Merry Christmas.

Christmas is the time to celebrate the Holy Child

And we celebrate His perfect gift of love.

He came to earth to give his life and prepare a place for us

So we could have a home with Him above.

It's Christmas time again and now you're home!

Your family is here so you will never be alone.

So tonight before you go to sleep I'll hold you in my arms.

And tell you from my heart, "I wish you a Merry Christmas."

Orphan Care Sunday

Yesterday was Orphan Care Sunday at my church. What an amazing Sunday it was! We heard the testimony of a man who had been in foster care with a lovely Christian couple in our city. Our pastor Shawn brought a beautiful sermon from 2 Samuel about how David treated Mephibosheth (his enemy's grandson) just like his own son and gave him a place at his table. Normally, that's not the story I think of when considering orphan care...I think that's why it had such an impact on our congregation. That sermon was truly a blessing from God. I don't think it's up yet but you can go to http://www.morningview.org/ to download it. It is entitled "A Place at His Table."

We also gave out copies of the book "Adopted for Life". This is the single best resource I have seen that compares our adoption in Christ with how we should view caring for orphans.

We gave a testimony in the night service. I feel like Moses just a little bit in that I really don't feel like I have the gift of speach, but I will not turn down an opportunity to get the word out about how important it is that the church step up and answer the call to care for orphans.

Tom Hicks also preached a riveting evening message on adoption. It was a powerful day for me.

We should be recieving our official notarized home study any day now. In this week of particular thankfulness, I'm especially thankful for my adoption into the heavenly family, and I'm thankful for this journey that God has seen fit to bless us with. I'm thankful for the daughter that I have, and for the one I will be meeting very soon.

Rabies Shots

Who would have thought that a Rabies shot would be a crucial part of adopting a child? Alas, the rabies vaccination certificate was the last piece in the very large puzzle of home study paperwork...we hope anyway. You just never know with these things. So, Josie, Clover, and I braved the first major rainstorm in a few months to take our Persian cat Clover to the vet. Thankfully, I was able to leave Josie with my friend Ruth so that I didn't have to worry about holding on to my emotionally disturbed cat AND my "I demonstrate my love for animals by pouncing on them" child.

Clover actually did very well! The poor little thing was shivering with fear, but didn't try to scratch, bite, or run away so I would call it a successful trip!

We had our last home study meeting last Friday. It went very well. Our social worker is so easy to work with! We discussed alot about Ethiopian culture and things concerning that. It was great and it feels so nice to have that done with. The next few steps we are working on simultaneously now are:

1. Sending our application for a matching grant to Lifesong

2. Sending in our I-600 form for pre-immigration approval

3. Getting our Tastebook fundraiser created and marketed!

4. Creating family photo pages for the Dossier

(amidst Christmas shopping and holiday baking and party planning and doing Christmas cards and camping trips and traveling...)

Oh well! I love this busy time of year! I love the food, the smell, the weather, the lights, the music, and...sitting by the fire sipping hot cocoa with my handsome husband. He is such a blessing to me and provides such emotionally stability for me in this crazy wonderful season! I love that this is the time of year that we celebrate the incarnation of God himself. While Christ has always existed and will forever exist, Christmas was the beginning of Christ's humanity. How exciting that Christ came as a man to fulfill God's justice and love at the same time. How gracious that He saves us from Himself.

I'm going to go binge on my Pumpkin Spice ice cream now. For those of you in parts of the country that don't have Blue Bell...I pity you at this moment. Happy Monday.